Enough is enough!
We’ve been home for over 2 months.
All of H’s doctor appointments and checkups have been met. My eye surgery was April 15th
and I have healed VERY well. I can now
read street signs and I can go outside without BOTH a baseball cap AND my huge
sunglasses! My garden is planted and
most of the “crops” are doing great – the tomatoes have blossoms and the peas
have pods. However, H is restless and
it was way past time to uncover the “condo” and take her out for a spin! We headed NORTH up US 23! Our first stop of the day was for breakfast
at a well-known Michigan “travelers” restaurant called Tony’s. Thru out the state they are best known for
the amount of bacon served with their huge breakfasts! H ordered eggs, potatoes and of course the
bacon. I ordered eggs and toast! They
do not serve just 2 eggs but 3! H’s
week’s worth of food came out on a platter and the bacon was piled at least 10
inches high! We split the potatoes and
both gorged on the bacon and still took home a “to go” boxful and chomped on it
for the rest of the week! Off of 23 is
another famous Michigan town – Frankenmuth.
It is as German as it sounds, only modern and full of tourist shops,
architecture and, of course, Bronner’s Christmas Shop. It’s always a must to park and walk from one
end of downtown, across the bridge, to the other end of all the German themed
shops and restaurants, checking them out as we stroll to see if anything has
changed since our last visit. Our final
stop was in Bay City at the Bay City State Park. It was Wednesday and Michigan schools are still in session so the
park was pretty empty! A few weeks from
now and that won’t be the case! When
asked where in Michigan you are from, a Michigander will raise his left hand
and point to a spot on the back of it!
We live in the extreme lower right at the very base of the thumb and
wrist. Bay City is just above the joint
where the thumb meets the hand. That
open area is the Saginaw Bay and the thumb area is called – The THUMB!! Go figure! On our second day we went exploring and ended up at the tip of the
thumb. The lay of the land was
extremely flat and the agriculture went from potatoes to sugar beets.
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| To enlarge pictures just click on a picture |
When the road ran closer to the waters edge
we got our views of Saginaw Bay and then as we rounded the top of the vast
peninsula, we looked out over one of the 5 beautiful Great Lakes - Lake
Huron. Grand Harbor was our last stop
and we had to check out their man made harbor.
A grated walkway led out over the sandy beach till it reached a massive
cement breakwall that jetted out into the lake. Its long curved arm provided
much needed protection for the many moored boats nestled at the marina from the
wind and waves coming off the rolling blue green waters. The winds were calm and the air was warm
while we were on land but once we ventured out to the end of that wall, we were
both wishing we had our jackets to ward off the cold winds.
The next leg of our adventure led us thru Midland and Mt
Pleasant Michigan to a picturesque lake that was only one in an extensive chain
of small pretty lakes. Tubbs Lake State
Forest Campground is not just rustic but it is PRIMITIVE. Outhouse and pitcher pump! Of course the “condo” has its own
“facilities” and H brought the Honda generator, so we were good! Our campsite was one of the prettiest that
we have ever been blessed to park in!
Situated up on a small sandy cliff, it overlooked a lake that would make
you feel like you were up in Canada! A
pair of loons floated by each morning and evening and their melodious calls
floated on the quiet night air. During
the daylight hours there was a gentle breeze that kept the mosquitoes at bay.
The lengthy course of the lakes and rivers that joined them were lined with cattails
filled with Redwing Blackbirds or vast sections of floating waterlily pads and
bright yellow lotus blooms that also had more than their share of darting,
diving birds. As we slowly cruised by
one such section, I noticed a baby Canada goose all alone, while 2 families of
geese were grazing up on shore. It was
stuck and was struggling to get away from the goofy looking craft that was
going so close by him. H circled back
around and cut the motor. The baby was panicking and diving under water to
escape! As I grabbed him and gently
lifted him out of the water, I found a fishhook stuck in its tummy and fish
line cutting into its small black leg.
Once on board, he lay quietly in H’s lap while H cut the hook and
removed it. I cut the fishing line and
unwound it from where it was embedded around its leg. Back in the water, he squawked and called for his folks! I never even got a picture till he was
safely back with his family and we were back on our way.
Our third and last stop was to another of our favorite
Michigan campgrounds in Hart. Hart is
in the middle of asparagras country and we just missed their annual Asparagras
Festival. But we did not miss the
Silver Lake Sand Dunes. See Previous
Michigan Blogs and you’ll see H’s truck (and previous Jeep Liberty) proudly
poised at the top of the high white sand dunes! It was a quiet day on the dunes so we aired the tires back up and
went to re-visit the little touristy town of Pentwater, which sits on the shore
of one of the other Great Lakes – beautiful blue Lake Michigan! We did our usual stroll thru town and
inspected the 3 story antique store before checking out the Charles Mears State
Park, nestled behind a large dune on another of Lake Mich’s sandy beaches. The whole campground is one big sandy beach!
